New Delhi, January 30
Commemorating the martyrdom anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi today, over 200 citizens of Delhi gathered at Jantar Mantar to appeal for 'food justice' so that the 'Antim Jan' (the last person) does not go to sleep hungry.

Pushing for a universal Public Distribution System , they demanded access to nutritious and affordable food for Gandhi's 'Antim Jan'.

The event that focused on hungry people living in slums saw the participation from diverse sections which include daily-wage earners, working women, farmers, the homeless and students.

"We need to make the invisible face of Delhi's hungry visible. In the last four months, we have been going to various communities to understand their plight. Many people go without food for lack of ration cards or other causes. So, we need to take the 'Food Justice Unto the Last," said food activist Jaya Iyer, also a theater personality and the anchor of the KHANA (KHAdya Nyaya Abhiyaan) campaign.

New Delhi, January 30
Congratulating Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on his party's landmark victory in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) election, Delhi BJP Pradesh president Vijender Gupta today said that the Congress will face a similar defeat in the Assembly polls this year.

With the defeat of the SAD (Delhi) president Paramjit Singh Sarna, the writing on the wall is clear, he said.

"The DSGMC election is purely religious in nature. The way the Congress government and the party made it an arena of politics and money power, the sanctity of this election was adversely affected and the Congress had to face defeat," he said.

Gupta claimed that the Delhi government was apprehensive of its defeat and even tried to postpone the election.

"If the Supreme Court had not ordered holding the election, the Delhi government would have stalled it till the Assembly polls. The government tried to amend the Gurdwara Act, but could not do so. The SAD (Badal) has created history in Delhi by winning three-fourths of the total seats," said Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly.

He said that the BJP and SAD (Badal) have worked together for the integration of Hindus and Sikhs.

New Delhi, January 30
A man has been arrested for allegedly trying to run his truck over two senior Delhi police officers, including a Joint Commissioner of Police, near the DND toll plaza last night. The police is searching for his absconding accomplice.

Asab Khan (35), a resident of Mewat in Haryana, has been arrested. The truck owner named Jacob also belongs to the same place.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satyendra Garg at a press conference today said, "I am lucky to be alive. I have never seen such an incident for the past three years."

The truck (HR 749397) was carrying sand which may have been illegally brought from Noida. The driver didn't stop the truck despite it being chased by two police vehicles with sirens blaring.

After about a kilometre, the two men abandoned the truck at Ashram and fled.

While examining the way the truck was being driven, investigators suspect the two men to be Mewati criminals. The fight against criminals from Mewat is one of the priorities of the Delhi police, as the men from that region are involved in numerous cases of breaking through police pickets and injuring police personnel.

"It appears that the driver's intention was to escape as he may have been illegally transporting sand. And to escape, he tried ramming the truck into us," said Garg.

A case has been registered at the Sunlight Colony police station under Sections 186 (obstructing public servant), 353 (assaulting public servant), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC.

Garg said that he with Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-Southern Range) Premnath and a couple of other traffic police officials went to the DND toll plaza last night to ease the traffic congestion.

The Kalindi Kunj flyover has been under repair since December 22, causing the traffic from Noida to Delhi to be diverted to the National Highway-2 and the DND flyover.

New Delhi, January 30
Observing World Leprosy Day, the Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation (SILF) today called for ending the discriminatory treatment meted out to the people who are afflicted with the disease and this even as India has officially declared to have eliminated leprosy in 2005 through the National Leprosy Eradication Program.

On the occasion, the annual "Rising to Dignity Awards" were given away by the guest of honour Dinesh Trivedi, the former Minister of Railways, to three entrepreneurs for running successful enterprises in leprosy colonies.

The three awardees felicitated this year were a women's group from Odisha, instrumental in successfully running a goat-rearing enterprise; a group from Allahabad who moved from begging to selling small puja items and cosmetics while a group from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, bagged the honour for setting up a business of masonry and tiling work.

The event saw the participation of over 120 political leaders, bureaucrats, academicians, health and social workers besides many beneficiaries of the education and livelihood programmes spearheaded by SILF.

Led by WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination Yohei Sasakawa, SILF has been striving for the integration of people and their families into society by ending the discrimination faced by them, said Dr Vineeta Shanker, the SILF executive director.

A performance by a group of underprivileged children, directed by Devika Anand Puri, highlighted the problems faced by the section, while another piece was based on the disability anthem of Badhte Kadam-a flagship programme by the National Trust for sensitising citizens about the rights of persons with disability.